EF3 Tornado — Ector, Texas

2010-05-14 · near Notrees, Ector, Texas

Event narrative

At 12:15 pm CST, members of the TWISTEX research group confirmed the formation of a tornado approximately 6.5 miles south of Notrees. This tornado progressed northeastward around 20 mph, first causing damage to power poles around from 12:16 to 12:17 pm CST. As it continued to track to the northeast, the tornado caused significant damage to oil equipment from 12:19 to 12:22 pm CST. Two type 320 pump jacks, each weighing 71,000 pounds including the concrete base, were blown over. The tornado then began to weaken at 12:27 pm CST, and dissipated at 12:28 pm CST approximately 2 miles southeast of Notrees, TX.

Wider weather episode

During the late morning hours, an upper level disturbance slowly progressed over the area. At the surface, abundant low level moisture was available due to southeasterly to easterly winds. A nearly stationary frontal boundary across the Permian basin provided a focus for rapid thunderstorm development. Several supercell thunderstorms resulted in widespread severe weather in the form of tornadoes, flash flooding and large hail across the Texas Permian Basin. The supercell thunderstorms eventually diminished during the late evening hours across the southern Permian Basin.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.8344, -102.7299)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 235492. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.